Game 38: Novara 3-0 Vicenza
Even now, at my advanced age, I’m a big kid at times with tickets. As a boy it was a real thrill for me to get my sweaty little hands on that little piece of paper that meant I was going to a match. Whatever the occasion, I used to love having a good stare. I’d keep taking it out of my wallet and checking it. It didn’t matter whether it was to make sure it was still there, to read it front and back again, or just to show off in front of people in the hope of sparking a conversation about Coventry v Sheffield Wednesday at Highfield Road, or wherever it was I was watching football next. Once I’d bought my ticket it would never be out of my sight.
So as a ticket fanatic (some would say fetishist), it’s a difficult habit to get used to when your job involves not collecting your match documentation until a couple of hours before the match in question kicks off, and you tend to fear nights like last night, when I spent what felt like an hour doing a near-full circuit of the Stadio Silvio Piola in Novara in the hunt for my match ticket.
When I received confirmation of my ticket it said I could collect it from the car park, but I have been to Novara a number of times so knew there were more than one car parks that could refer to, but took a stab at that meaning the accreditation booth in the ticket office just of viale Kennedy behind the distinti. Having been given a lift by my friend Paul we arrived to find that his ticket was at the booth, but mine wasn’t. Apparently, mine was with a steward behind the main stand!
So we ventured half a circuit around the ground to the back of the main stand, explaining to two or three other stewards along the way why I was still ticketless at this point, only to find that there was no steward in possession of my golden ticket. After about 20 more minutes of sending members of hospitality staff running around trying to find my ticket, I was informed that it should be with a parking attendant out and to the left, taking us to a total of 270 degrees from our original starting point!
Upon finding the attendant, who had no ticket in his hand but mine – I felt so special!, we discovered that I had also been reserved a car parking space, despite Paul being the one with the car! We decided we’d wasted enough time, left the car in the supermarket car park around the corner and headed on to watch the match.
Vicenza were neat and tidy in places, but never really looked threatening enough to pull off a result. Much sought-after striker Pablo Gonzalez put the home side ahead inside five minutes, and the Biancorossi were playing second fiddle thereafter. Gonzalez looked dangerous for the most part, and his side won 3-0 in the end thanks to further goals from Marco Rigoni and Cristian Bertani for the league leaders, who continue their assault for a second straight promotion.
One thing that really does favour Novara is their synthetic surface. That’s something they’d have to deal with if they were promoted at the end of the season. In the meantime they maintain their 100 per cent record on home ‘turf’. The one time I’ve attempted to see them play away so far, I saw nothing but puddles. I’ll give it another go sometime soon, as at home there are few times likely to trouble them.
